AMHERST — All of the attention in recent seasons has been on UMass’ young defensemen.
There was Cale Makar and Mario Ferraro, two standouts who instantly became the Minutemen’s best defensemen in their two seasons in Amherst. Now the focus is on Marc Del Gaizo and Ty Farmer, two sophomores who soaked up as much as they could from Ferraro and Makar last season and are now being asked to transmit that information to the latest crop of freshmen blue liners. That group includes Zac Jones, last season’s USHL Rookie of the Year and a third-round pick of the New York Rangers in June.
This season, the Minutemen have eight defensemen on the roster, and seven of them are either freshmen or sophomores. The exception is senior Jake McLaughlin, who is coming off his best season with UMass and is ready to take an even larger step this year.
“Jake needs to take that leap,” coach Greg Carvel said. “He’s seen it all here, he’s been through it all. He’s a quiet kid, but his level of play will lead the group. He was our best defensemen in the Frozen Four with just the way he quietly took care of business. He’s a big, powerful, strong kid who uses his assets well.”
McLaughlin’s importance to the Minutemen isn’t lost on the Illinois native, either. He said he approached this summer with a different intensity knowing this is his final year of college hockey and he would be tasked with helping to replace the void left by the departure of Ferraro and Makar.
Although he might not provide the offensive punch those two did for UMass, he said he wants to assume their leadership role and be a reliable defender for Carvel in all situations.
“This was a big offseason for me,” McLaughlin said. “Obviously we had a good D core last year with Makar and Ferraro, and for them to leave for the NHL, it’s a different role for me now where I have to step up and elevate my game. I realized how important that was so this offseason and this upcoming season, I look to elevate and try to take on a similar role that they took on.”
When Carvel began recruiting McLaughlin six years ago, the then-St. Lawrence coach had a vision for how the 6-foot-2 defensemen would develop over four years. McLaughlin hasn’t reached those goals yet and time is running out, but Carvel said the path to improvement begins with how steady the senior is on the blue line. He said McLaughlin’s inconsistency has hindered him in past seasons, but Carvel was very complimentary many times last season about how reliable McLaughlin was as part of the No. 3 defensive pairing and on the penalty killing.
Carvel said McLaughlin’s play this season will be indicative of how much success the Minutemen could have this year.
“He’s one of those guys — last year it was Brett Boeing — Jake’s one of those guys that if he has a great year, it’s going to make us a much better team,” Carvel said. “For him, it’s always been about consistency. Some days in practice, he’s a star, some days he’s not. It’s about getting that consistent effort. I recruited him six years ago and I had a big vision for him. He hasn’t quite reached it yet, but this is the year for him to do it.”
McLaughlin said he’s made changes off the ice to keep his life more in order, and he hopes those adjustments will help him realize his potential on the ice. It all started Friday against RPI as McLaughlin was a plus-2 in the Minutemen’s 5-3 win in the season opener.
Now the challenge is if McLaughlin can maintain that level of play as the Minutemen tackle their first Hockey East battle of the season Tuesday at Northeastern.
“I’m trying to lock in every day,” McLaughlin said. “It’s simple things like bringing the intensity during practice, making sure I’m sleeping enough, eating right, living my life very disciplined. I’m trying to take it day-by-day with what I’m doing. Just being consistent in my life, that will translate over into my game.”
Josh Walfish can be reached at jwalfish@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshWalfishDHG. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.